Category Archives: ACCESSIBILITY

Designing for Non-Native Speakers

… Some curious facts emerge when you compare the languages most sites use, versus the languages most internet users speak. While around half of all web pages are in English, only about 28 percent of the people using the internet speak English as a first language. Interesting, right? There are billions of people who useContinueContinue reading “Designing for Non-Native Speakers”

IBM Research: Inclusive Technology is the New “IT”

IBM is collaborating with Freedom Scientific to offer organizations a complete portfolio of enterprise accessibility training and eLearning to ensure that all employees – designers, developers, testers, quality assurance, and program managers – are following best practices in accessibility and are educated on current regulations and industry standards. … For more information on the IBMContinueContinue reading “IBM Research: Inclusive Technology is the New “IT””

Making Word, PowerPoint, Excel & PDF Documents Accessible

Web accessibility means committing to making your website accessible to all users, regardless of their physical or sensory ability. But inclusive design extends beyond your website. To be truly accessible, any documents provided as links to download must also be accessible. This is often overlooked on university websites and online courses, which must comply withContinueContinue reading “Making Word, PowerPoint, Excel & PDF Documents Accessible”

Accessibility and Apple Watch apps | Macworld

From an accessibility standpoint, the Apple Watch’s screen is just too small for me to get a lot from apps. As someone with low vision, I try to minimize my interaction with the watch; I don’t want to spend much time looking at the screen for fear of increased eye strain and fatigue. … TheContinueContinue reading “Accessibility and Apple Watch apps | Macworld”

3 lessons from developers who have embraced assistive technology

Today, we have apps that can help the blind see, give words to those who can’t speak and enable independence for people who would otherwise be forced to rely on others. To celebrate these advancements, Apple debuted a new collection in iTunes Thursday, highlighting apps that take advantage of accessibility features on iOS devices. TheContinueContinue reading “3 lessons from developers who have embraced assistive technology”

10 Guidelines for High-Quality Alt Text

According to many sets of accessibility regulations and guidelines, including the US Section 508, and the W3C’s WCAG 2.0, image elements on web pages must have text equivalents to be considered accessible. This is accomplished by specifying alt text for the image. (curated by Lifekludger from 10 Guidelines for High-Quality Alt Text) Complete article atContinueContinue reading “10 Guidelines for High-Quality Alt Text”

Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo And Others Push For Accessibility Development – ReadWrite

  ReadWrite Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo And Others Push For Accessibility Development ReadWrite As the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) approaches, a new group has formed to champion the cause of development for accessibility. Several educators and tech companies have joined forces in an effort dubbed Teaching … … (curated by Lifekludger) CompleteContinueContinue reading “Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo And Others Push For Accessibility Development – ReadWrite”

Apple Watch: Invisible feature helps woman who is deaf and registered blind to navigate – News – Gadgets and Tech – The Independent

A woman who is deaf and registered blind has described the way that the Apple Watch has been able to help her navigate and communicate with friends. Molly Watt, an activist and blogger, lives with Usher Syndrome and is deaf and registered blind. Apple products are “more than just up market gadgets” … One ofContinueContinue reading “Apple Watch: Invisible feature helps woman who is deaf and registered blind to navigate – News – Gadgets and Tech – The Independent”

Emerging ways of providing audio description

When we consider providing audio description for web based media, we understand is to be broadcast alongside the primary audio and video of the media when it is activated. Standard description in this way is ‘closed’ and applied to post-production content. However, new forms of description and new ways to provide them are emerging andContinueContinue reading “Emerging ways of providing audio description”

Web Accessibility for Designers | August

Web accessibility makes it easier for people to use the web. It creates a better user experience for a wider audience. It’s not just targeted towards people with disabilities. … “Web accessibility means that people can use the web. Not ‘people with disabilities’. Not ‘blind people and deaf people’. Not ‘people who have cognitive disabilities’ or ‘men who are colourContinueContinue reading “Web Accessibility for Designers | August”

People With Disabilities Still an Afterthought in Tech Design

Progress over the past 25 years has made computing more accessible to people with disabilities. But from design to finish, accessibility is still an afterthought in the race to technological innovation. — Despite breakthroughs in robotics, speech recognition, eye-motion sensors, virtual reality and many other areas, the general design approach to new products still excludes peopleContinueContinue reading “People With Disabilities Still an Afterthought in Tech Design”

Australian government web accessibility compliance transitions from strategy to standards

From a transition strategy to a national standard, the Digital Transformation Office has begun to detail requirements for federal government agencies to have their websites recognised as being accessible…. (curated by Lifekludger) Complete story at source: Access iQ http://ift.tt/1h6QmIX

Making sure it works – testing the new London.gov.uk | London City Hall

Testing software and websites is a challenge. We need to ensure that the final product is fit for purpose, and as good as it can possibly be. We must also understand it can never be totally free of bugs. We do lots of different types of testing from User Acceptance Testing (UAT) to performance andContinueContinue reading “Making sure it works – testing the new London.gov.uk | London City Hall”

Accessible IT, assistive technology and working with a disability in tech

Accessible IT and assistive technology need to be ingrained in the DNA of the organisation, according to executives from the Royal National Institute for the Blind, BBC and Natural Resources Wales – to enable those working in tech with a disability and to give CIOs a greater understanding of user requirements. … “It’s a CIO’sContinueContinue reading “Accessible IT, assistive technology and working with a disability in tech”

Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo And Others Push For Accessibility Development – ReadWrite

For all their rhetoric and idealism about changing the world, consumer-facing technologies have largely failed at least one major set of users: people with disabilities, a segment that represents roughly 1 in 5 people in the U.S.As the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) approaches, a new group has formed to championContinueContinue reading “Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo And Others Push For Accessibility Development – ReadWrite”

Hands-Free ‘Mouse’ Wins AT&T Accessibility Award

The $25,000 grand prize went to Kinesic Mouse, a software solution that uses a 3D camera to detect facial expressions and head rotations so that users can operate a PC hands-free. The Kinesic Mouse also won the $10,000 “Best Mobility Solution” category, bringing its total cash winnings to $35,000…. (curated by Lifekludger) Complete story atContinueContinue reading “Hands-Free ‘Mouse’ Wins AT&T Accessibility Award”

Layout Tables Tip

It’s 2015, so hopefully web developers know that table elements should not be used for layout. There are many reasons why CSS for layout is better but at the core, HTML tables are data tables; they’ve always been meant for data. If a table is used for layout, add ARIA role of presentation to the table element. This will remove theContinueContinue reading “Layout Tables Tip”

Speech Recognition – Coming of Age!

Google recently added Voice Typing to Google Docs which really has taken speech recognition to the next level. By simply plugging in a microphone to a desktop computer students can start to use speech recognition immediately. I have found that the speech recognition that’s built into Google Docs to be very accurate and allows studentsContinueContinue reading “Speech Recognition – Coming of Age!”

What is an accessible website? | Lee Jordan

What is an accessible website? Often when we try to define what an accessible website is, we default to the position that it’s a website that can be used by a visually impaired person via a screen reader. If your website makes sense and can be navigated when it’s read out by a screen readerContinueContinue reading “What is an accessible website? | Lee Jordan”

Chieko Asakawa: How new technology helps blind people explore the world | TED Talk | TED.com

  How can technology help improve our quality of life? How can we navigate the world without using the sense of vision? Inventor and IBM Fellow Chieko Asakawa, who’s been blind since the age of fourteen, is working on answering these questions. In a charming demo, she shows off some new technology that’s helping blindContinueContinue reading “Chieko Asakawa: How new technology helps blind people explore the world | TED Talk | TED.com”

Proper Use of Buttons and Links

After years of arguing for proper use of form elements and link elements, others are finally doing the same. More recently, this includes the articles The Anchor Button: Bad for Accessibility, Bad for Usability by Matt Long and Reinventing the hyperlink (with much humor!) by Heydon Pickering. (curated by Lifekludger from Proper Use of Buttons and Links) Complete articleContinueContinue reading “Proper Use of Buttons and Links”

W3C Web Accessibility Initiative: 2014 in review

As the end of another busy year approaches, it’s worth looking back at the year that was and the significant contributions WAI has made. With celebrations relating to the 25th anniversary of the WWW and the 20th anniversary of the W3C, there has been much opportunity for reflection, and there have been some more localisedContinueContinue reading “W3C Web Accessibility Initiative: 2014 in review”

PDF accessibility: new guidance issued

The Australian government has issued updated guidance on the accessibility of the portable document format (PDF) for people with disabilities. (curated by Lifekludger from PDF accessibility: new guidance issued) Complete article at source: http://www.accessiq.org/news/news/2014/12/pdf-accessibility-new-guidance-issued